Disclaimer: I do not own anything from OUaT or LXG.
Enjoy!
In the depths of the industrial system of Storybrooke, a frightened fairy/nun was running for her life. As she rounded the corner of the hall she was sprinting through, she came to face the very monster pursuing her.
"There's nowhere to hide from me, dearie." Rumple darkly warned.
"Whatever you're doing, the Mother Superior won't let you get away with it." the frightened girl threatened. With a dark smirk and a wave of his hand, Rumple moved the girl in a cloud of smoke to be bounded to a support beam behind him.
"That wingless glowworm won't stop me. None of you will." he said with confidence before an unexpected third party showed up.
"What is it between you and fairies?" the Evil Queen asked, "You never have told me why you despise them so much."
"What are you doing here?"
"Oh, isn't it obvious?" she chuckled, "I came to join in the fun. Oh, I thought you'd be happier to see me."
"And I will be, once you've taken care of that problem we discussed."
"Oh, you mean Zelena and Nicholas." she recalled before laughing in disbelief, "You don't really expect me to kill my own flesh and blood for you?"
"Well, that depends on how serious you are about these new beginnings you say you want, because I think one of them involves me." Rumple countered.
"Why should I believe you've at long last gotten over Belle?" Evil Queen asked.
"Because I've finally come to my senses. Belle won't accept me for who I really am." Rumple answered, "I know you never really wanted to rule alone. Well, you no longer have to. There's just two little things in your way."
"And just how do you expect me to kill the Immortal Alchemist?" Evil Queen asked.
"Oh, I believe you know the answer to that better than anyone. That being said, if you don't mind, I have my own problems to attend to." he said as he returned his attention to his captive.
"Which is what, exactly?" Evil Queen asked.
"I'm gonna send a message via fairy." he replied as he uncorked a vial of bronze dust and tossed it on the poor girl. In a matter of seconds, the girl rapidly aged to an old woman, courtesy of the dust.
After the unfortunate woman was found by the other nuns, and giving Mother Superior the rundown of what happened, she was wheeled off to rest. In the meantime, the leader of the fairies informed Emma, Regina and Hook who was filling in for Nicholas.
"It was the Dark One with the Evil Queen. They're together." Blue confirmed.
"Nicholas used the same magic when we were dealing with Nimue to speed up Zelena's pregnancy." Emma recalled.
"This is about me!" Belle exclaimed. The librarian had tagged along when she heard what happened, mostly due to her belief that Rumple was behind it from the start. "Rumple's going to do the same thing so that he can use the Shears of Destiny to cut our son's ties to his fate. And then, when that happens, he can take him from me, he can corrupt him, or even worse."
"If that truly is his plan, why would he announce it to us?" Hook asked.
"Because he wants me to know what he's doing." Belle scoffed, "He's trying to scare me so that I'll go back to him, which I won't do, I can't do. There has to be a way to stop him."
"Indeed, there is." Gilles intervened. Since he decided to stay in Storybrooke, the LXG agent had taken the liberty of filling in for the open position of the town's pastor. He may not have been friends with Blue, but he was well received from the other nuns.
"What do you have in mind, mate?" Hook asked.
"I believe our lovely sheriff remembers this." Gilles said as he drew one of his guns.
"Yeah, I remember you shooting me with that thing." Emma bluntly nodded as she crossed her arms, "Gilles, I see where you're going with this. You wanna shoot Gold with those pellets of yours?"
"It worked on you, didn't it?" he nonchalantly asked, "Granted, it won't last as long thanks to his new powers, but still."
"Even so, while he's stunned, we can take the shears from him." Hook pointed out, "Question is, how do we dose him? He's likely to have his guard up."
"I can do it." Belle volunteered, "He's doing all of this because he thinks it'll force me back to him, and if that's what he wants, then that's what I'm gonna make him think I'm doing."
"Sorry, Belle, but no." Emma gently refused, "It just gives Gold an opportunity to use his magic to speed up your pregnancy."
"She's right, love." Hook nodded, "Leave the rest to us. Besides, the crocodile can't hurt us thanks to Nicholas."
"Where is Nicholas, anyway?" Gilles asked as he looked around for his friend.
"He took Zelena and the baby out for lunch." Emma replied.
"Oh, um, there was one other thing." Blue sheepishly added as she came back after hearing Nicholas' name, "Gold apparently wants the Evil Queen to kill Zelena and Nicholas. From what I was told, she seemed willing to do it."
"You might've mentioned that sooner, don't you think?!" Hook snapped as Regina scoffed, rolled her eyes and poofed away to rescue her siblings from her evil half. Over at the farmhouse, the two siblings and baby just entered the kitchen to put Robin down for her nap.
"Ugh!" Nicholas groaned as he cradled his stomach, "Do me a favor, the next we eat together at Granny's, if I think eating her attempt at Chinese food is a good thing, thump me on the head. I am very much regretting eating that stuff."
"Trust me, after smelling those clear signs of intentional distress you were making on the ride back, you won't exactly have to worry about me telling you otherwise." Zelena chuckled.
"It was only one. Two at the most." Nicholas defended.
"They had layers and you know it." she deadpanned.
"Kinda proud of that, actually." he smirked mischievously.
"Your uncle is gross, isn't he, sweetpea?" Zelena playfully cooed at the baby.
"Hey!" he whined as the Evil Queen entered the room.
"Knock-knock." she greeted.
"You!" Nicholas growled as he readied his spears.
"No, Nicholas, it's okay!" Zelena reassured with a smile at the sight of her sister as she bounced her daughter, "It's just Auntie Evil. Would you like to hold Robin? I think she misses you."
"Oh, no. That's okay." Evil Queen politely declined, even though her body language made Nicholas tense, "In fact, I was hoping to catch you during nap time."
"Why's that? Why are you here?" Zelena asked.
"Gold sent me." she simply replied making the meaning quite clear. Tension raised in the air as the two siblings looked at their new enemy.
"Guess he was able to exploit that loophole after all." Nicholas dryly quipped.
"So, what now?" Zelena asked.
"Oh, I suggest you put the baby down." Evil Queen suggested. Seeing that there was no other alternative to a fight, Zelena relented and placed her baby girl in her crib and kissed her soft, little head.
"Mommy loves you." she whispered.
"So, this is it." Nicholas glared, "After what you've done for us, you just up and decided we weren't worth it? All that glitters isn't gold, you know?"
"How about we take this outside?" Evil Queen suggested before poofing them all to the yard, "Enough games. Let's finish this!"
"You really think you can beat me? I'm immortal, remember?" Nicholas scoffed as he hardened his shield, readied his spears, and pooled his shadows to emphasize his point.
"Oh, I'm aware of that. Among other things." she darkly smirked as she did something neither she, nor Nicholas thought she would ever do. Reaching out with her magic to summon it, the Evil Queen gripped a long, black, leather bull whip into her hand. At the sight of his greatest, physical fear, Nicholas unconsciously dropped all his defenses and looked at her with utter fear, betrayal and heartbreak.
"You wouldn't." Zelena gasped as Nicholas whimpered and trembled.
"Think so?" Evil Queen smiled as she cracked the whip, causing Nicholas to jolt in fear as he fell to the ground and crawled back a few paces. Next, she summoned a powerful ball of fire and tossed it at Zelena, sending her flying at her shed, causing her head to bleed.
"Please." Nicholas begged in fear as tears threatened to fall, "Don't do this."
"You've gotten in my way far too many times, little brother. No longer." she coldly said before lashing him.
Each strike hurt Nicholas in more ways than one. Even though he knew it was not really Regina who was lashing him, seeing the face of his big sister as he was reliving the worst memories of his life. Even if his wounds were healing, the mental pain the whip was causing him reduced him to tears. Despite the pain Zelena was in, she mustered the strength to defend her baby brother and held him in her arms to shield him.
"Looks like evil does beat wicked and extraordinary." Evil Queen taunted as she readied the final blow, "Goodbye, brother and sister."
But instead of finishing the siblings off, the Evil Queen doubled over in pain as she clutched her chest. "No. My heart." she grunted.
"Not your heart. Mine" Regina corrected sharply from behind. In her hand was her own heart, just waiting to be crushed, literally by her own hand.
"Regina." Zelena exhaled as she held the trembling alchemist.
"You can't control me with that." Evil Queen spat.
"Oh, I don't have to. All I have to do is crush it." Regina threatened.
"You wouldn't."
"Think so?" she asked before squeezing the heart, causing them both to double over in pain, "So, now that you know I'm serious, you're going to tell me why you'd do this."
"It was Rumplestiltskin." Zelena answered, "He said it was either the two of us or him."
"Did he now?" Regina mocked.
"Oh, you're just jealous!" Evil Queen barked.
"You think he cares for you?" Regina asked, "Don't you get it? He lied to you because he couldn't hurt them. He knew revenge wasn't enough for you, so he tricked you into disposing them. You still have a hole in your heart, just like I did when I first came here."
"You don't know what you're talking about." Evil Queen defied.
"And you're so desperate to fill it, you actually believed him."
"You're wrong!"
"Am I? Go ask him and find out. After all, we're done with you here." Regina declared. Without another word, the queen threw up her hands and poofed away. On the other side of town at the pawn shop, Hook entered the cluttered lair of his mortal enemy without a trace of fear.
"Well, look who it is. The Savior's lap dog." Gold dryly greeted, "Come to pick out a new collar, have we?"
"Actually, I've come to try and stop you from ruining another one of your son's lives, just like you did with Bae." Hook corrected just as dryly.
"Is that a fact?" Rumple asked, not taking kindly to the insult, "What made you think it was a good idea to provoke the Dark One?"
"You mean, aside from the fact that you can no longer hurt me? This, for one thing." Hook smirked before Emma came in from the back and shot Gold in the face with Gilles gun.
"Standard issue." Emma quipped as she watched Gold seethe in pain like she did the first time she was shot with mixture, "Let's get searching."
"I'll remember this, pirate." Gold hissed in anger as they searched his paralyzed person.
"He's not carrying the dagger or the shears." Hook informed.
"Okay, you look up here. I'll search in the back." Emma nodded before heading to the back of the shop. As she searched, visions of the hooded figure and mysterious beast attacked her mind and sent her to the floor as her legs gave out.
"Emma?!" Hook called as he rushed past the curtain after hearing his friend collapse. As he did, Emma's vision revealed key details in her fight against the hooded figure; specifically, the sword that stabbed her.
"Are you okay? What happened?" he asked in concern.
"I saw another vision." she said weakly.
"What? I thought those had stopped." he said with worry.
"I thought so, too." she said as she struggled to stand. As this happened, the effects of the squid ink wore off and Gold was free. However, instead of going to the back, he calmly walked out the front door.
Moving as quietly as death, the Dark One made his way inside the library where he found his estranged wife searching through books. Despite the tension between them, he felt warmth bloom in his chest as he watched her in her element. Unfortunately, as soon as she noticed his presence, she had no warmth inside her. Only fear.
"No." she panicked, "No, no. How did you-"
"You really think squid ink can hold me?" he asked, "I'm far too powerful for that now."
"Look, I know you want me back, Rumple. But it's-it's never gonna happen." Belle said in fear.
"I know." he darkly whispered, "But I cannot lose another son, Belle. I won't. Not if I can stop it."
Making his intentions clear, he revealed the same dust he used earlier on the nun.
"No." Belle whimpered before stumbling back into the elevator, "Why? Why are you doing this?"
"After all this time, you must know. I will never be the man you think I can be." Rumple replied.
"It doesn't have to be like that." she stammered.
"I'm afraid it does. When we met, I told you I was a difficult man to love. But more than that, I think…I think I'm a man no one can love. But this son, with him, I can start over. Maybe he can love me." Rumple explained.
"Not like this." Belle said in defiance, "Don't give up, Rumple. I-I never wanted you to be perfect. I just wanted you to try!"
"I have. And look what's happened. I've only ever pushed you away." Rumple said in sadness, "No, I'm afraid all I really have…is just magic."
"And it may get you your son. But you know there's a price. You won't just push me away again. You'll lose me forever. Is that a price you're willing to pay?" Belle asked.
Whether it was because he did not have an answer, or he did not have the strength to give one, Rumple simply walked away and left the library and his wife. Meanwhile, Regina was tending to her battered siblings inside the farmhouse. For Nicholas, all he needed was about a dozen of his plums to calm him down. Zelena, on the other hand, needed magic to heal the wound on her head. So, feeling obligated, Regina supplied them with both.
"Thank you." Zelena said after Regina healed her while Nicholas was slurping on his plums, "After a scrap like that, I don't think I could magic a glass of warm milk, let alone heal myself. We're lucky you happened by."
"Yeah, about that." Regina awkwardly began.
"No, listen. Let me go first." Zelena interrupted, politely, as she stood up, "I should have been the one to reach out and find you, to apologize."
"I didn't come here to apologize." Regina corrected, "Truth is, I thought I'd find some magic here to help reverse an aging spell Gold used."
"You mean you came here to steal from me?" Zelena snapped.
"Well, was I supposed think you'd share?" Regina asked, clearly convinced she had done nothing wrong, "After everything you did to me and my friends?"
"Well, if that's what you assumed, why even bother saving me, then?" Zelena asked hotly.
"Because that's what heroes do, Zelena. They save people. Even the people who have hurt them in…unimaginable ways."
"So this is about Robin Hood. You still blame me for his death." Zelena stated.
"Yes, that's exactly right." Regina retorted.
"What about forgiveness? What about redemption?" Zelena asked as tears began to form in her eyes, "I mean, you've been forgiven! You've grown. You've changed!"
"…You're not me." Regina said coldly and flatly, "I can never forgive either of you. I can pity you. I can hate you. I can spare your life, Zelena. But I can never forgive either of you."
Having enough of the hatred from her only sister, Zelena left the kitchen to be alone and cry. Nicholas said nothing. All he had done during the argument was finish his plums and stare at the large apples Zelena had in her centerpiece bowl.
After she exited the farmhouse, and walked out to the front yard, Regina let out a heavy sigh as she tried to push down her feelings of hate. While she did, she failed to notice the sound of the front door opening behind her. Then, without any warning, the mayor of Storybrooke felt something strike the back of her head, causing her to stumble and nearly fall.
When she clutched her head, she pulled bits of apple from her hair. Ready to lash out at her sister from such childish behavior, Regina spun on her heels only to see Nicholas heaving in anger as he glared at her from the porch. Based on his position, plus being the only other person outside, it was obvious that he had thrown the apple.
"Go to hell." he growled before stomping back inside, slamming the door as he did.
Over at the loft, Snow, Henry, Jasmine, Aladdin, Mina, and Sawyer were standing around the dining room table, ready for what was about to happen. To clarify, after Aladdin had stolen the wand, he managed to find a familiar genie lamp and stole it, as well. Although they had not rubbed the lamp yet, they were about to in front of their new friends, and the LXG agents since Jasmine had hired them.
"You ready?" Snow asked her fellow princess.
"I am." Jasmine nodded with a deep breath. As she rubbed the enchanted trinket, a small cloud of gold smoke poured from it. Unfortunately, it was not a genie that came out, but the golden, jeweled bracers that would have been on the genie's wrists.
"Gee, that's disappointing." Mina dryly remarked as Aladdin picked up the bracers.
"I don't understand. Where's the genie?" Jasmine asked.
"Apparently, he's been freed. Just our luck." Sawyer said in disappointment as he clicked his tongue.
"But without a genie, I can't use a wish to get back to Agrabah." Jasmine stressed.
"Actually, I think you will." Aladdin corrected as he slapped one of the bracers on his wrist.
"What are you doing? You'll be a prisoner of the lamp." Jasmine reminded.
"It's not such a bad life. Sure, some genies are insufferable, but I knew a pretty great one once. And he's been free for a while now, so maybe I can be like him. Either way, let's say we find out." he smirked before putting on the last bracer and getting sucked into his new home. Over at the pawn shop, Gold and the Evil Queen were having a heated discussion.
"You didn't use it." Evil Queen spat as she saw her lover put the vial away, "So Regina was right then. You were just using me to get rid of Zelena and Nicholas."
"If you've come here looking for retribution, you've come to the wrong place." Gold said in a bored tone.
"Oh, let me guess why you didn't use the magic on Belle." she retorted, "She gave you some speech about 'the man in the beast,' or whatever she claims to see in you. Even if you were the person she wants you to be today, how long will that really last? Soon enough, she'll realize, as she always does, that's not who you really are. But this time, she'll have a child to protect. And she'll do what she should have way back when. She'll go and take the boy with her. And you'll be alone, just as it was the first time. With Baelfire."
"You want to know what failure looks like? Take a look in the mirror." Rumple calmly retorted, "Do not dare question me again. Now go. We're done."
No longer in the mood to play games, the queen just said nothing and left the shop. After the town's worst break up, Belle had met up with Hook and Emma over at the diner to find out if they found anything and. Unfortunately, they had not. Still, Belle was thankful that she could finally start moving forward.
"I know I should be relieved, but…" the librarian trailed.
"Well, no one's gonna blame you for still worrying." Emma sympathized, "Gold did the right thing today. That doesn't mean he'll do the same tomorrow."
"Emma's right." Hook agreed, "And we have to make sure that he can't use that magic on you, and we will."
"Here you go. One cup of chamomile. It soothes the soul." Granny said as she gave Belle the tea she ordered.
"Drink up, love. Helps calm the nerves." Hook gestured before pulling Emma away, "So, are you gonna tell me what happened back at Gold's, or do I have to guess?"
"I saw my death again." she told her friend, "It was the same details, the same figure, the same monster. Everything was the same. Except this time, there was something new. The sword, the sword that's used to kill me, it had a red jewel in the pommel, almost glowing."
"What brought the vision on?"
"I don't know. Maybe just being in the shop? Maybe there was something in there." Emma guessed before they heard Belle gasp and her cup shatter.
"Belle?" Emma asked in concern, "What is it? Are you okay?"
"The tea." Belle said before her stomach began to rapidly swell, "Aah! No, no! This can't be happening! Please, no!"
"Call Gilles." Emma said to Hook without taking her eyes off Belle, "We need to get the monastery ready, now!"
After poofing all three of them back to the monastery and informing Gilles and Blue, the nuns set up a barrier as soon as Rumplestiltskin arrived. As soon as he laid eyes on the monastery, he seethed in anger.
"I should have known the Savior would bring my wife here. Wherever there's injustice in the world, there's always a fairy." he hissed before tearing through the barrier. As he did, Belle had given birth to her son.
Naming him after her favorite hero, Gideon, Belle realized there was no safer choice for her baby than to have Blue take him someplace safe. Away from her husband, the impending doom, the League, all of it. It broke her heart, but she did it for his sake. Unfortunately, by the time Rumple made it inside, he only saw Blue fly away with his second child. Vowing to find him, Gold retreated back his shop to formulate a new plan. Much to his annoyance, however, he was not alone.
"Someone lose another son?" Evil Queen asked from the dark corner she was sitting in.
"Don't. Not now." Rumple ordered, borderline pleading.
"Or what?" Evil Queen shot back before laughing, "Oh, I bet Belle really hates you now, huh?"
"Go." he demanded with a jerk of his thumb.
"No. I'm going to enjoy this." she refused, "I went to a lot of trouble for this to see what happens when you poison your love."
"I did no such thing. You did." Rumple accused.
"Oh, no. You did. By making me an enemy." she corrected, "Okay, yes, I did the actual dosing of the tea after I stole your magic. But you forced my hand. Oh, worry not. It'll be easy to fix, no? Just tell her. Oh, wait. She won't believe you, will she? Tragic."
"I may not have crossed a line today. But you most certainly did. And I'm gonna make sure you pay for it." Rumple threatened.
"Oh, please." she scoffed, "If you haven't found a way to kill the woman who killed your own son, or the man who's practically made you his bitch, without enlisting my help, I'm not all that concerned."
"One thing I thought you knew about me by now, Your Majesty, I play a very long game. And you? You're nothing more than one of my pawns." Rumple darkly warned.
Unimpressed, the queen simply said, "Good luck finding your son. Again. I hear fairies make wonderful mothers."
Finally having enough of it all, Rumple let loose all the pent up anger and began to destroy everything in his path. Once he had finished, and left to further vent his anger, or look for his missing son, Emma and Hook returned to figure out why she had received her vision earlier after making so much progress.
"Whoa." Emma remarked as they stepped over the wreckage, "Well, someone had a temper tantrum."
"Do you really think you'll find something in here to explain your vision?" Hook asked.
"I think I just did." Emma said after finding the exact same sword she saw in her vision, "This is it. This is the sword from my vision. It's here."
As soon as she grabbed the grip, another vision surged through her mind, showing her exactly what she saw earlier.
"Emma, are you okay?" Hook asked as she firmly grabbed the blade.
"Yeah. I think it's safe to say this is what did it."
"This is the sword that killed you?"
"Will kill me." Emma corrected.
"Why would it be in here?" he asked.
"I don't know. But now that we have it, maybe we can finally find who's responsible. And maybe what the thing that's going to finish me off is, too."
"The figure under the hood and the mysterious beast?" he asked.
"Yeah. Maybe then we can stop them." Emma nodded with determination.
Hi, guys! Not much to say on this one since it was pretty much exactly like the show, save for Nicholas' scene. There really wasn't much I could do with him for this one. Since I had him with Zelena, it wouldn't have made sense to have him galivanting around with Emma. Plus, since this was mostly an episode for Rumple and Belle, it was bound to be short for obvious reasons.
I'm starting to get burnt out with this whole show, so chapters may come a bit slower even while I am on break. Also, I'm probably going to work on my Game of Thrones story next since it's been even longer since I updated that one. So, in case I don't post something on here within the next twelve days, MERRY CHRISTMAS!